A 2,700 mile coastal cycling journey to raise awareness about access to public lands for urban youth

Month: July 2016

I should start by apologizing for posting this so late! We always aim to publish a new post every Monday but sometimes time slips away and we aren’t able to. Luckily, it’s here at least. This post recaps our sixth week on the road. Enjoy!
DAY 44: Tuesday, July 19th, 2016

Crescent City, CA – 20 miles

That morning, 8 cyclists woke up. We all had stayed the night inside a community room of a church that we all had found through Warmshowers. Two from Germany, two from Tennessee, one from Berkeley, two from Florida and one from Flagstaff, Arizona. We all headed our separate ways. Jordan and I went back to our diners and had a delicious breakfast at Good Morning Cafe. We made deli sandwiches and biked to Jedidiah Smith State Park with Marcella and Jacob (our friends from Florida).
The Redwoods were beautiful! They were so tall. We enjoyed 2.7 mile hike to Boy Scout Tree. On the way back, I ran into a friend who I met 3 years ago in San Francisco- my friend Bernet! What in the world are the odds of that happening? Bernet and I met while I was staying at the Embassy Network working as an intern for Verbling.
That evening, we made pasta for dinner and then watched Jurassic Park with Marcella and Jacob.

​DAY 45: Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

Crescent City, CA to Trinidad, CA – 60 miles

After a long morning of packing up, we said bye to Katie, our amazing Warmshowers host, who made us give a final payment- one last hug. As her saying goes, “a hug a day, keeps the crazies away.”

We rode through the beautiful Redwoods and hit Trinidad, a small coastal town of less than 500 people. The first house I knocked on said yes. The owner’s name was Mary and offered us a warmshower and a cold beer. For dinner, Marcella, Jacob, Jordan and I bought deli food from the grocery store and ate it on a bench overlooking the sunset on the pier.

​DAY 46: Thursday, July 21st, 2016

Trinidad, CA to Myers Flat, CA – 72 miles

We got an early start and left around 7:30am. After hard riding, we ate lunch in Scotia, a very small town on the way. On the road, we saw a woman riding by herself. She told us her husband was following her.

After that, we finally hit the famous Avenue of the Giants. Imagine tall, wide redwood trees and lots of greenery. This felt amazing for us, almost a sort of meditative feeling because there weren’t many cars. Then we hit Brighton Campground. We wanted to keep to our goal of not paying for accommodations and relying on the kindness of others so at the campsite, we asked some folks if we could set up our tent next to their site. They said yes and their names were Tom and Martha. The woman we saw biking earlier was also camping right next to us with her husband. They invited us over for steak tacos!

Right after, Tom and Martha invited us to join them for dinner with their friend Debbie (also staying at the same campsite) was cooking homemade vegetable pot pies over the fire. Over dinner, we had great conversations about traveling, the world and the adventureous spirit we shared in common. It was WAY better than stealth camping and being on our own.

After dinner, we made rounds saying hi to the fellow bicycle tourists who were staying at the campground whom we had met in previous days. Being the two gregarious individuals we are, we knew about 5 people there and chatted with each person or couple before heading to bed. It’s awesome because the PCH is a popular route so you’re always meeting new people but making friends who cycle the same pace as you.

​DAY 47: Friday, July 22nd, 2016

Myers Flat, CA to Westport, CA – 75 miles

In the morning, Debbie, who I must also mention recently retired from her work at a nonprofit was doing a four month road trip around the US, hugged us goodbye.

On the road, we stopped for water at a gift shop but were disappointed when we found out it wasnt potable. However, an older gentleman in his 60s lit up when he saw us at the shop and told us he wanted to do a tour. We gave him some tips and told him that age should never be a factor for limiting one’s adventures in life. He smiled, patted us on the backs and wished us luck on the rest of our journey, telling us he may plan his own trip in the future.

On the ride, we met Zach, a 20 year old guy from Portland riding to San Francisco, who rode with us over 2,000ft of hills.

Near the top of the first big hill, a car was stopped. Nelson, the driver, was stopped with his wife because their 2 year old was car sick. While chatting, he offered us cold beers to pay it forward to all the people who helped him when he hiked the AT in his earlier years.

When we made it out of the Giants and back on the coast, we yelled with excitement! The energy inside us was finally being let out. This was the first moment we hit Highway 1, the main route for the rest of our ride. Nothing felt better than knowing this would be our main road the next 800 miles or so to San Diego.

We cycled more miles and hit Westport. There, we bought sandwiches at a little market. While outside, Marcella and Jacob cycled up and the five of us stealth camped together behind a church.

​DAY 48: Saturday, July 23rd, 2016

Westport, CA to Gualala, CA – 75 miles

After grabbing coffee, we all headed out and soon separated off into two groups- Marcella and Jacob, and Jordan, myself anfd Zach.

We all stopped at Taco Bell for a lunch break but then broke into our separate groups.

Halfway there, we ran into two older gentlemen in their seventies riding from Seattle to Salinas, CA. They were packing way lighter (sleeping in motels) but also pushing 100+ miles each day. We couldn’t believe it. They inspired us more than they know it.
In Gualala, we received one no from a house. Not having much options and little time, we started brainstorming. We watched two fire trucks by and then thought to follow them. We rode up a hill and found thr station. After asking permission, we camped behind the station and used their regular house hose (with warm water) to rinse off. It was the first “shower” in two days after hard riding.
​DAY 49: Sunday, July 24th, 2016

Gualala, CA to Bodega Bay, CA – 48 miles

Zach, Jordan and I woke up and headed to the local grocery store to grab breakfast. There, we met an older gentleman who told us about two college students who rode from New York to Long Beach last summer (Westward Wheels). We chatted with him for a bit then hit the road.
While riding, I encountered another cyclist. I stopped to apply sunscreen while Jordan and Zach pedaled on. A younger woman rode up behind me and started chatting. Her name was Megan and she was an outdoor educator from Vancouver B.C. She and I rode together and caught up with Zach and Jordan. Then the four of us trekked over big hills on Highway 1 until we hit Jenner where Megan took off ahead of us.

Then, we rode the rest of our ride and hit Bodega Bay, where we planned to meet Jordan’s college friend’s parents, Steve and Nancy. After we said bye to Zach, we began searching for a house to camp at.

After one “no” we received a yes from a man named Jeff. Jeff was a carpenter and trained falcons to hunt. He also happened to have a fresh litter of 7 week old chocolate whyrhymers. They were so cute! Jordan and I died a little inside with all the joy of playing with puppies.

Steve and Nancy treated us to a delicious Italian dinner at Denucci’s, a local restaurant, where we enjoyed breaded veal and fine Italian wine. It was super kind of them to drive 100 miles from their home near Sacramento to see us.

​DAY 50: Monday, July 25th, 2016

Bodega Bay, CA to Nacasio, CA – 48 miles

In the morning, two of Jordan’s close friends whom he met during his study abroad in France named Satchel and Leah joined us to ride from Bodega Bay to Nacasio in Marin county.

It wasn’t the easiest ride because of the notorious California rolling hills, but riding 48 miles with company, specifically two people who enjoy cycling (road and mountain) sure made it go by quickly!

At Leah’s, we jumped in an 80 degree pool and enjoyed the afternoon in Marin.

That evening, both Leah and Satchel’s parents along with a few family friends came over all for a big BBQ dinner. We had a blast learning about all their life experiences and hearing about their careers in psychology, fashion, and the medical field. The night carried away with great conversation and great company. Without a doubt, Jordan and I were happy and thankful to be in Marin county.
Last, please don’t forget! We’re raising $5,000 for Outdoor Outreach, a nonprofit in San Diego. You can donate by going here and making a contribution to help us reach our goal. Thanks 🙂

What’s going on fellas, this past week has been absolutely CRAZY! Up until Wednesday Joe and I had been separated because I had a conference in DC that I attended as part of my job that I’m starting in September.
Even though attending this conference took time out of our bike journey I’m so glad I went. It was my first time being at this conference as an employee and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. The conference was about educating university students about why it is important to maintain and strengthen the U.S-Israel relationship. Having the opportunity to speak in front of many people and educate them on the issues was extremely empowering and the whole conference I felt like I was just in this awesome groove. It made me realize I hope that in every job I have in the future there will be a public speaking component, I get such an adrenaline rush from it. One last thing from the conference that I learned. Israel is my passion, and now I’m able to incorporate my profession with my passion, and even though I was and will be waking up early and working late, I don’t see that as a negative, I see it as fulfilling my aspirations.
Okay, now back to the road. I flew into Eugene Wednesday night and coincidently I sat next to a guy on the flight who was staying at the same fraternity house I was that night. So instead of paying $30 for a taxi, his buddy was picking him up and they offered to give me a ride. The luck continues.

Thursday: Eugene to Mapleton
Alright back on the road. We headed out to a campsite about 40 miles away from Eugene with a couple guys we met staying at the fraternity house, Matt , Michael and David. We camped right next to a river and went exploring around. We made a fire and had hot dogs that evening along with smores which absolutely hit the spot. All night we just sat around the fire and chatted, it was quite relaxing.
Friday: Mapleton the Coos Bay
We parted ways with our new friends and set off for a long days ride. For some reason that morning we were running into so many cyclists, it gave me such a large boost of energy seeing so many people doing what I love to do.
After about 40 miles we were heading up this crazy big hill and at the top there was donut shop so we obviously had to stop. As we got to the shop I saw two bikes loaded up with touring gear. We ran in and started chatting with the cyclists. Their names were Marcella and Jacob, from Tallahassee, Florida. We instantly hit it off over donuts and coffee.
After chatting and relaxing for a little we discovered we were heading to the same place, San Diego! As I am writing this on Monday morning, I’m sitting right next Marcella and Jacob so needless to say, we have turned into quite the travel buddies.
We continued to Coos Bay that night traveling in our new bike pack. Jacob and Marsella are super gnarly people, they’ve traveled all over the world and now work in a bike shop in Tallahassee. Both are recent grads of Florida State University.
We made it to Coos Bay and had no where to sleep. I thought it was common for cyclists to ask random houses if they can sleep in their yard but Marcella and Jacob had never done that so I thought it would be cool to have them experience it! I thought it might be a little harder now to have someone say yes because we had 4 people instead of 2, but low and behold the first door I went up to said we could. Joe and I taught Marcella and Jacob what to look for when picking a house. If they have a Prius or Subaru you are usually good to go. The quality of grass is important as well along with a level yard and ha hose. If you can get all of that, that is an A+ house.
The owner was Tammy, a sweet older lady who ever offered us the shower in her house. Her kindness was awesome. After setting up our tents we went into town and stopped at a brewery. We drank great beers and played board games all night! Everyone in the brewery probably thought we were crazy because of how loud we got when playing Egyptian ratscrew and apples to apples. It made me think of my childhood when we would have family board game nights.
Saturday: Coos Bay to Port Orford
After leaving Tammy’s house, we ran to the local grocery store and stacked up on food for breakfast and lunch seeing as though it was going to be a long day.
We road about 25 miles and ended up in Bandon, where there was a small farmers market with same amazing fruit. After perusing around for a little I sparked up a conversation with a women who was educating people about locally sourced seafood. We chatted and she said there is a women who hosts cyclists at her house in Port Orford, where we were coincidently ending our day. We were stoked!
We stopped at a picnic table for lunch and some of Marcella’s friends who are traveling up the coast met up with us. It was awesome meeting some of their friends. It’s great traveling with Jacob and Marcella because they know so much about bikes, and we don’t so they have been quite helpful.
We made it to Port Orford. Got to the food co-op where Kathy, our potential host worked and it was closed. They closed at 3 and it was 3:45. So after brainstorming ideas I thought I’d go to the restaurant next door and see if they had Kathy’s number. Joe also found Kathy on Facebook and friend requested her haha. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The lady got ahold of Kathy but unfortunately Kathy wasn’t able to host us. We were discussing what we wanted to do now over coffee and cookies and in comes a young guy. He told us about this camp spot right on the beach. Sign me up. We headed out, but only after the lady at the restaurant gave us a ton of free food, bread, cheese and meat, it was epic!
We rode to the beach and set up camp in this little cove right in front of the water. Luckily there was a little creek that fed into the ocean where we all skinny dipped and washed up. That night we made a little fire and hung out, just chatting about how much we love bike touring and how awesome life is. We ate smores and headed to bed, falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves.
Sunday: Port Orford to Brookings
The scenery on this day was unreal. For most of the day we were biking along the coast, looking at the beautiful clear blue water along these drastic cliffs we were riding on. The day was filled with crazy up hills but fast down hills as well. We hit a personal record of 45 MPH.
We got to Brookings and decided to ask a random stranger to camp in their yard. Again, the first person said no problem. Shane and Tiffany were the kindest hosts. They offered us a much needed beer and we chatted for a while.
All four of us walked into town and treated ourselves to Mexican food. Jacob and Marcella aren’t accustomed to Mexican food, so they are trying to get as much as possible. We were stuffed, but it was national ice cream so we obviously had to get ice cream. Joe, Jacob and I split a tub of ice cream that is meant for 12 people but we were able to eat it all.
Today, Monday, we are going to enter into California and continue our journey down to San Diego.
ALSO please donate to Outdoor Outreach on our donation page through this website! It would be greatly appreciated!

This week’s blog will cover our fifth week on the road (still crazy for us to think we’ve spent 5 weeks living off our bikes)! To preface this post, Jordan left Eugene this past Friday morning on a plane to D.C. to speak at AIPAC’s annual leadership conference for work. That means that I have been here in Eugene! Check out what’s been happening:

DAY 29: Monday, July 4th, 2016

McMinnville, OR to Lincoln City, OR – 55 miles

In the morning, our host Flint (friend of friend from Linfield Colege) ran alongside us as we biked to a local diner for breakfast. After delicious pancakes, biscuits and gravy and home fries, we departed McMinnville.

We rode 55 hard miles and arrived in Lincoln City around 4pm. After eating burgers, fries and drinking craft beer at a local restaurant called Kylos, we looked for someone’s house to knock on to camp in their lawn. Since it was 4th of July, we knew our luck was slim. While riding in a neighborhood adjacent to the restaurant, we had some luck. We didn’t see any Prius’ or Subarus. While near a cul-de-sac deciding what to do, a woman came out and asked if she could help us find something. I gave her the usual spiel. I had no expectations for her response and was quite surprised when she offered to let us camp in the grass at her house. 5 minutes later, she even came out and offered us a plate of freshly sliced watermelon and mango. We couldn’t believe our luck! Although the news may not always portray it but the American people are kind and friendly humans if you look in the right places.

Even luckier for us, her house was less than 500 feet from the beach. We set up camp then headed over to the beach and sat down to watch the sunset and celebrate the day our people claimed independence.

DAY 30: Tuesday, July 5th, 2016

Lincoln City to Florence, OR – 78 miles

After eating Burger King for breakfast, we biked 50 miles then stopped for pizza at Grand Central in Waldport. We split a 16″ pizza and then had a conference call with Haley and Cuyla from Outdoor Outreach. They helped us come up with a few more fundraising strategies(donate here) and also gave us tips for increasing our social media traction.

While riding the other 28 miles, Jordan stopped near a pull-off at the same time a car was stopping. A older dad in his late 50s exited the car and looked out towards the ocean.

“Look over there! Do you see the whales breaching?” He said to Jordan.

I stopped my bike in the front of the car and started chatting with his wife. It was strange how quickly we realized we had common ties! They had one son who attended Long Beach State (where I’m attending grad school) and now him, and their other son, both live in Arizona. It’s crazy to think of how much we had common even though 5 minutes previously, we were complete strangers travelling down the same road on the Oregon coast.

That night, our luck didn’t continue. After asking two homes if we could camp in their yard, they both expressed a firm no. Just as the sun was setting, we found a house across from a campground with an Arizona license plate.

“Let me handle this one” Jordan confidently said as we stopped in the driveway. After a little persuading, the elderly woman agreed. (She was from Green Valley, AZ by the way).

DAY 31: Wednesday, July 6th, 2016

Florence, OR to Eugene, OR – 65 miles

We woke up early to make sure to leave before our host awoke. However, after packing up our tent, she came out and offered us coffee. Although Jordan and I don’t consider ourselves big coffee drinkers, we appreciated the kind gesture and said yes.

Over breakfast, we learned that Monique, our host, had traveled to over 161 countries in her lifetime. Her house was filled with artifacts from her travels. After exchanging contact information, we departed and headed towards Eugene.

In Eugene, we headed straight to the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house where we (mostly me) would make base-camp for the next week. Jordan’s family friend from home, Matthew, is in AEPi and offered to let us stay there as long as we needed.

Jordan and I walked around the University of Oregon and admired the green grass and beautiful red brick buildings. The campus feel hit a nostalgic spot for me. It reminded me of U of A’s campus and made me wish I was back in Tucson with my Wildcat family.

That night, Matthew and some other friends brought us to the university strip to experience part of the night-life culture. It was a fun, laid back night.

DAY 32: Thursday, July 7th, 2016

Eugene, Oregon

After sleeping in till 8:30am, we headed to Starbucks to use the wifi and get ready for the day. While there, we had a funny coincidence. We spotted Neil, our wonderful Warmshowers host from Seaside, Oregon. He told us that plans fell through and he wasn’t traveling to Iceland but instead staying in Eugene for the remainder of the Olympic Trials.

After Jordan finished a conference call for work, we headed towards the Olympic Trials to watch a few events. When we arrived, they told us it didn’t open to none-ticket-holders until 1:30pm. Since we were on campus, we decided to walk around and check it out. Next door to the opening for the Olympic Trials, we saw an academic building and Jordan said, “Let’s take a look inside.”

At the front lobby, a woman sitting at a table looked to be there to give directions.

“Can you tell us where the linguistics department is located?” I asked.

“You’re in it!” She exclaimed and pointed to the right side of the building where the wall read LINGUISTICS.

What luck! Jordan and I headed inside the office and I asked if anyone was available to talk to about a PhD in linguistics. The receptionist made a quick phone call and told me a professor would be happy to talk to me for a few minutes. He came out, shook my hand and told us we could sit down in the hallway to chat for a few minutes. A few minutes into the conversation, I mentioned that I was particularly interested in Second Language Acquisition. He said they had two professors who focused on SLA.

“And what do you know. He comes one of them: Professor Baese-Berk” He said with a surprised tone.

She happened to have a short break and happily offered to sit down with me in her office to answer any questions that I had. The serendipitous moments on this trip continue day after day.

We chatted for 20 minutes in her office about the PhD in Linguistics and she answered all my questions. She was so kind and incredibly helpful. I would definitely considering applying there after my Master’s program.

Afterwards, we headed to the Olympic Trials and set up our chairs on the grass in front of the screens projecting live streams of the events. Being there, watching people compete to represent our country in the Olympics in Rio filled my body with chills. The atmosphere there filled you with thrills. Jordan and I looked at each other and smiled, “What are the odds that we end up in Eugene, where the Olympic Trials are happening and are witnessing this live right now?” We couldn’t believe it.

DAY 33- Friday, July 8th, 2016

Eugene, Oregon

My eyes widened with fear. It was 4:30am. I heard loud thumps and bags rustling.

“Oh no… Did someone break in to the house and trying to steal my bike?” My first thought every time I wake up in the middle of the night while on tour. Then I remembered it was Friday. Jordan was packing last-minute for his trip to D.C.

Jordan and I hugged goodbye as he headed to the airport.

After looking at the weather and weighing my options, I decided the best thing for me to do for the next half week was to stay in Eugene. Originally, I had contemplated hitchhiking to Bend but I decided to stay and watch the Trials during the weekend.

That morning, I had a fascinating conversation with a guy who lived in the house. His name was Zack and he was from LA. I told him I was from Arizona. “Oh cool. I transferred here last year from U of A”

For the next 30 minutes, he told me about his freshman year. He mentioned how he rushed because he heard Greek life at UA was awesome and how it was a great way to meet people. However, through the process, he didn’t feel like he fit in with the guys in there. He didn’t go through with rush, but he was living in Coronado, which is the largest dorm on campus so he expected to meet people. But he had trouble- with the girls. He said that most of the girls that he met fired the question, “Are you in a frat?” immediately after they asked his name. According to him, when he responded, “no,” they simply wrote him off as “not worth their time” in his words.

This shocked me! I had a lot of friends in Greek life- both sorority and fraternity- but had never heard of people experiencing what Zack described to me. I felt sad. I LOVED my experience at U of A and wouldn’t trade it for the world. Now, I never went through rush freshman year so I can’t say much but I’m optimistic that this isn’t a common experience.

Zack told me how he transferred to the University of Oregon after a not-so-great year at Arizona and rushed again, this time finding guys who he fit in with in AEPi. He really enjoyed Oregon and realized Arizona wasn’t the right place for him. At the end of the conversation, I was glad to hear he found his fit.

DAY 34: Saturday, July 9th, 2016

Eugene, Oregon

I cooked oatmeal for breakfast then headed to the library to finish some work related to grad school registration.

Luckily, I arrived at the Olympic Trials just in time to catch the first round of the women’s 5000m and the final for the men’s 5000m. Out of all the people there, I just so happened to sit next to a man named Larry, who was in his sixties. Larry and I chatted and soon after meeting, I learned that he had also participated in a long distance bicycle ride. Wow. There’s serendipity again for ya’. We stayed to watch the award ceremonies. We even saw Devon Allen, University of Oregon football and track athlete, win the finals for the 110m hurdles. Guess where he’s from? Phoenix, Arizona! How crazy is that? I later found out he attended Brophy, a college preparatory school in downtown Phoenix.

DAY 35: Sunday, July 10th, 2016

Eugene, Oregon

This day started out like yesterday- breakfast then the Olympic Trials. This time, I went a little earlier because I didn’t have much else to do. I arrived around 1pm. Lucky for me, there was a live band playing and since it was sprinkling, no one was near the stage. I plopped my REI camping chair near the front and sat there, enjoying the sounds of live music. After three songs, the band concluded their performance and headed in. “Well, at least I was able to catch the end of it!” I thought to myself.

While contemplating what I should do until the events starting at 3pm, I sat in my chair, taking in everything around me. Then, my luck continued.

Out of my left peripheral, a woman who worked for USATF approached me and asked, “Do you have a ticket for today?”

“No.” I said shyly.

“Do you want one?” She proceeded.

“Uh, yes, I’d love one!” I said in disbelief.

She handed me a ticket. Just like that, I had a ticket to see the Olympic Trials on the last day when my favorite events were happening- the men’s and women’s finals for the 1500m. Wow, I couldn’t believe it.

That afternoon, I found my seat on the bleachers at the Historic Hayward Field. I watched the finals for the women’s pole vault, 200m final, 5000m and 1500m final and the men’s high jump, and 1500m final. The crowd was filled with energy. During high jump, a few of the jumpers would start a clap and continue until the entire arena followed in suit. It brought back the old cross country and track and field days from high school.

I loved being in that environment, cheering on the athletes who trained and put in hard work and dedication in order to compete to represent our beautiful country.

At the end of the day, I felt extreme gratitude for all the luck I experienced that weekend.

Jordan returns on Wednesday night so we’ll be heading down the coast of Oregon this Thursday. Thank you to everyone who has donated to help us reach our goal of $5,000 for Outdoor Outreach! We’ve raised close to $1,500 already and know we’ll hit our mark by August 20th, the day we plan to finish in San Diego. If you’d like to donate, you can do so here.

If you let life steer, good things come your way. I couldn’t be happier with the way our trip has turned out these past 5 weeks. It’s been an amazing ride quite far and I can’t wait to see how this next month and a half unwinds.

I have to preface this blog post with just saying happy 4th of July to everyone. Cycling around the United States has given both Joe and I even more insight into why we live in the most scenic, unique and overall best country in the entire world. I’m currently sitting on a beach on the Oregon coast, on a bright sunny day thinking about how fortunate I am to be doing what I’m doing and meeting the people that we have along the way. So without further ado here is last weeks adventures.

Raymond to Seaside
Monday morning we left the little town of Raymond and as usual we were looking for our local diner. The town is quite small, so needless to say our options were limited.we saws Chinese restaurant with the open sign on at 8:00 which we thought was quite strange, but we decided to go check it out since we were starving. We walk and people were eating pankakes and eggs, I thought for sure this was one of the weirdest restaurants I had ever been too, but to my disbelief it was one of the best breakfasts we have had on our trip. No joke, the gravy on Joe’s biscuits was flowing off the plate, he was in heaven.
As we start riding we come across 2 other cyclist, one American and the other Australian, both probably in there 60’s, super nice people. We also saw a group of high school students touring. It was awesome seeing such a variation of ages doing all colliding on the road enjoying our beautiful backyard.

We eventually made it to Astoria, where they have a massive bridge that divides Oregon and Washington. As we were riding in the mile long bridge we ran into the American and Aussie who we saw about 3 hours earlier. We rode the rest of the bridge together and everyone was waving and giving us the thumbs up.

We rode hard for the rest of the day, totaling 74 miles, our longest day yet. We got to our warmshowers host house and nobody was there. I called up Niel, our host, and he said go on in and make yourself at home. He didn’t even know us but he trusted us with his house.

Later we met Neil. Neil is the man. He hosts over 150 people a year, all the while traveling for half the year. He’s been to over 100 countries.

That night we ate a whole bag of pasta and a half gallon on ice cream. A perfect example of our extremely balanced diet.

Seaside to garibaldi
After saying bye to Neil we took off. A little down the coast is Canon beach, an iconic beach in Oregon because it has huge rocks coming out of the water.
We kept riding down the coast and at each turn there was an incredible view of the water. We got to this super small town and we were starving. We grabbed a full pizza and probably ate it in 15min.

After riding for a little longer that day we decided to take a shorter day and stop at 40 miles. We came across the camp site and they wanted $20 a person, ya right. We biked maybe 200 feet down the street and I saw a guy outside his house. I did my usual spiel and he said of course. His name was Bill and his house was right on the ocean. We couldn’t of gotten a better view. And let it be know that we have been on the road for 4 weeks as of today and we still haven’t paid once for sleeping.

Bill was a great guy. He was the president of a major construction company and now has retired to this house. We spoke for about an hour about Oregon and other things. He said right in front of his house we might see killer whales, so we kept our eyes open.

Garibaldi to Forrest Grove
Cheese. We saw so many cheese factories that morning. We stopped in at the Tillamook cheese and ice cream factory and had tons of samples of cheese. After filling up on cheddar and Swiss we rode and we rode for many miles up through the Tillamook state park. It was hard but oh so stunning. Once we got to the summit we were beyond stoked cause we knew we had an awesome down hill. It was at least 3 miles down cruising at 35 MPH.
We finally got to Forrest Grove where we were staying with our friend Krisa. We went out that night with her roommate Emily and Krisa’s boyfriend, Nathan.

Forrest Grove to Portland
Krisa took us to the local bakery where they were famous for their cinnamon rolls. Joe and I each had a whole one, they were so good.
We ended up riding over to her boyfriend, Nathan’s house, where we made enchiladas and met some more of their friends.

We set off for David’s house, a friend of our high school Spanish teacher, Robbie klasky.

Once we got there we headed out to a brewery. I swear at every corner there is a brewery in Portland. We enjoyed great beer and good conversation. David is an exceptional man. For the past 19 years he has ridin in the AIDS and HIV ride from San Francisco down to LA. Later that evening, we went to Alberta street, quite the scene to say the least. There was a huge street fair with vendors and performances. David explained it as the best representation of Portland, people were walking around naked and smoking weed, quite the scene to say the least. But I couldn’t help but realize the large smiles on everyone’s face. Everyone was living simply and just enjoying themselves. Later David treated us to Salt and Straw, where we had some of the best ice cream ever. They have flavors that incorporate crazy combos, such a balsamic vinaigrette and others. Vice President Joe Biden is a frequent Salt and Straw customer.

Portland for the next couple days
The next morning, we got off to a great start. We said bye to David and right as we left, a gentleman by the name of Quinn asked if we were lost, cause he saw our bags. We began chatting and he coincidently works for a company called Ride with GPS. An app that allows you to create maps for cycling. He invited us up to the office, which had to have been the coolest office I’ve ever seen. With 10 employees they had a wide open room with brick and wood. We met everyone else and ended up spending an hour there. One of the guys who worked there, Kevin, brought in his Golden Retriever, and all I could think about is my golden, Ollie, back at home.
We then headed out and explored Portland having a delicious breakfast at Screen Door. Later that day we were scrambling for a place to stay and luckily Tanja, a host on warmshowers invited us over. They were the kindest family ever. They were in the middle of remodeling their house and still let us come over. We went out to dinner and then they took us to a secret dessert joint that you only know of by word of mouth. I was a little thrown off at first because, my cup kept moving to the left, and I wasn’t even touching it. They all started laughing because I didn’t realize the tables were moving. They said most of them do that in the place and it’s funny watching first timers get so confused. We definitely felt like locals that night.
The next morning we went to a vegan restaurant. Not really my cup of tea but it was actually really good. A nice change of pace from the food we’ve been eating so far on this trip.
Later we went downtown and visited the food trucks and a couple more breweries, you really can’t escape them. Experienced the Portland culture and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.
We ran into a couple of my SDSU friends at a bar. Alec, who lives in Portland, invited us to sleep at his house that night on the river.
We said bye to Tanja and her family and rode to Alec’s house. We grabbed dinner with Joe’s step sister and funny enough, the waitress thought we were Joe’s parents. People also think I’m around 26 and Joe is, well A LOT younger.

Portland to Mcminville
The next day we were planning on heading out early but Alec invited us on a hike and we definitely couldn’t pass that up. It was a great hike going through mountain lakes and coming out at the top to see Mount Hood. We got home around 4:30 and left the house around 5, our latest start yet. We made it to Mcminville at 9:30, and luckily the sun was just about going down by then. We stayed with a guy by the name of Flint. A friend of Chris Beresford who I played baseball with back in high school.
What a week! We are still amazed by all the hospitality and kindness of every stranger we meet as well as long time friends that we run into. We have now officially been in the rode for a month and have about 6 weeks left!
We feel extremely fortunate to be raising money for Outdoor Outreach, if you are able to, please donate at Thebendableroad.com. Thanks

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